Please don’t take this the wrong way but I am having the hardest time trying to find a single article about the Missouri Mule that doesn’t claim that the mule was opened in 63. If we’ve missed anything or you wish to challenge whether something should or should not be included, we’d love to hear from you. 290 Sanchez Street (now Makli Restaurant was the Jackhammer).10 Sanchez Street (now residential was Scott’s Pit).2223 Market Street (now Pesce was the Purple Pickle).2166 Market Street (Klotz Watches & Clocks was Cardi’s, Balcony, Academy).2100 Market Street (formerly Home Restaurant was Rear End Bar at Truck Stop, Hideaway at Church Street Station).2097 Market Street (residential was Naked Grape, Tool Box, Hustle Inn).2029 Market Street (vacant was Mecca, Gingerfruit).
506 Castro Street (vacant site of the Body Shop was the Midnight Sun, City Dump, Midnight Sun again).482 Castro Street (now part of Walgreen’s was Toad Hall, DJ’s, the Phoenix).469 Castro Street (now Slurp Noodle Bar was Nothing Special, Special, Headquarters, Night Shift).The Residence (now 718 14th Street) – was the Galleon Supper Club).Lucky 13 (2140 Market Street) – was Mind Shaft, Alfie’s, Prism, 2140 Market, Industrial Dance Company, High Chaparral.Churchill (198 Church Street) – was the Transfer, the Bar on Church.Straight/Mixed Bars That Used to be LGBT Bars List of Gay Bars in the Castro Current LGBT Bars If you wonder why some businesses were included and others were not, we explore our definitions in more detail. Defining Our Termsīefore we can explore the history of gay bars in the Castro, we have to determine whether they are bars, whether they are gay, and whether they’re in the Castro. Here, then, is our work-in-progress history of every place in the Castro that is now or (coming soon) ever was a gay bar. Later, certain bars started to be known for a particular sort of crowd - leather bars, upscale “sweater queen” bars, drag and trans-friendly bars, and more - and though bars could be subject to dangerous police raids, they were often the only opportunity for gay people to find their own. For generations, gay people could only surreptitiously meet other gays through clandestine hookups in parks or the piers. Then after the Summer of Love, gay people - particularly gay hippies - started to flood into the mostly working-class Scandinavian and Irish neighborhood, and new gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses opened: restaurants, bookstores and other retail shops, hotels, and bathhouses.īut still, bars remained a strong part of the neighborhood’s gay life, and any history of gay life would be incomplete without covering the history of gay bars. The first gay-related businesses in the Castro were gay bars - the Missouri Mule in 1963, followed by Libra and I-Do-Know in 1967 and then the Mint in 1968. The Missouri Mule, the first gay bar in the Castro.